Did you ever think, Google is tracking your reactions while surfing through the web pages? How would it be if the search result ranking would be based on people’s satisfaction reaction? Will Google be using Biometric Parameters for ranking in the near future?
A newly published Google patent application describes technology that would modify scoring and ranking of query results using Biometric Parameters of user satisfaction or negative engagement with a search result.
In other words, Google would track how satisfied or unsatisfied someone might be with search results, and using machine learning, build a model based upon that satisfaction, raising or lowering search results for a query.
This kind of reaction might be captured using a camera on a searcher’s phone to see their reaction to a search result, as depicted in the following screenshot from the patent:
This satisfaction would be based upon Google tracking and measuring the biometric parameters of a user obtained after the search result is presented to the user, to determine whether those may indicate negative engagement by the user with a search result.
How is this related to marketers and creators?
Almost each and every business makes use of digital marketing to boost their business; and the ranking would be determined by the range of relevance, keywords, time spent on a particular page, and many such factors. There might be times when a particular search result has all of the above but isn’t quite satisfying to the reader.
With the help of this new biometric parameter of recording reader’s reaction would make the ranking more accurate, and your business who has amazing content would be ranked higher!
For instance- if a user searches ‘digital agencies around me’ and the first result shows a name from where he previously did not get a good experience, he would frown. This reaction is saved and might bring down the ranking of the particular agency.
Isn’t that cool?
This is the Patent Application –
Inventors: Matthias Grundmann, Karthik Raveendran, and Daniel Castro Chin
US Patent Application: 20190228031
Filed: January 28, 2019
Published: July 25, 2019
One question that arises against this patent is:
Will users be comfortable by the fact that Google has been continuously monitoring and saving their reactions through their smartphone cameras?
Can this conscientiousness lead to the manipulative reaction?
To answer this, the patent tells us that reactions and results will be determined on various factors:
- Increased body temperature
- Pupil dilation
- Eye twitching
- Facial flushing
- Decreased blink rate
- Increased heart rate
All these factors stand as proof that results would be very accurate and precise, ranking the deserving ones higher!
Another example where Biometric Parameter use in technology would be Apple’s Face Id feature. It is built to keep the iPhone more secure and it is quite appealing to the users, not making them uncomfortable about smartphone cameras recording their reactions.
In fact, Google Pixel 4 too may come up with a feature of Face ID.
This does not really involve emotional reaction, but it works on the biometric parameter.
If Google is successful in recording our reactions to rank search results based on the satisfaction level, are we really ready for this?
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